‘I was absolutely soaking wet through. It’s a good job the people on the market were there to help me.

‘Absolutely everyone was disgusted by how long it took.’

Laini Birch, one of the traders who stayed with Doreen after her fall, said the experience was ‘really scary’.

‘She was absolutely covered in blood, coughing blood up, slipping in and out of consciousness and the ambulance service didn’t seem to care,’ she said.

‘I was fuming. One person I spoke to said there were more important people out there, and when I explained her condition and age she said age doesn’t matter.’

She had fallen on uneven pavement in Doncaster (Picture: Ross Parry)

Dr David Macklin, Executive Director of Operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are very sorry for the distress caused in relation to this incident and our Patient Relations Team has spoken directly with the patient’s family to discuss their concerns.

‘Our records show that an initial emergency call was received at 11.32am on Friday 4 March followed by three duplicate calls.

‘One of our clinicians carried out an assessment over the phone at 12.41pm as we continued to try and arrange for an ambulance to attend the scene.

‘It was a busy period with a large number of 999 calls to patients in a serious or life-threatening condition which, understandably, we had to prioritise.

‘At 12.55pm we received a further call to confirm that the patient had been moved to a local care home and our ambulance arrived there at 1.13pm. Our staff provided treatment to the patient and then conveyed her to Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

‘We understand the patient is now back at home and wish her a speedy recovery.’